diff --git a/osu.Game/Online/Chat/Message.cs b/osu.Game/Online/Chat/Message.cs
index b267cf63ac..5d781459e8 100644
--- a/osu.Game/Online/Chat/Message.cs
+++ b/osu.Game/Online/Chat/Message.cs
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 // Licensed under the MIT Licence - https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ppy/osu/master/LICENCE
 
 using System;
+using System.ComponentModel;
 using Newtonsoft.Json;
 using osu.Game.Users;
 
@@ -16,8 +17,11 @@ namespace osu.Game.Online.Chat
         [JsonProperty(@"user_id")]
         public int UserId;
 
-        [JsonProperty(@"channel_id")]
-        public int ChannelId;
+        [JsonProperty(@"target_type")]
+        public TargetType TargetType;
+
+        [JsonProperty(@"target_id")]
+        public int TargetId;
 
         [JsonProperty(@"timestamp")]
         public DateTimeOffset Timestamp;
@@ -33,4 +37,12 @@ namespace osu.Game.Online.Chat
         {
         }
     }
+
+    public enum TargetType
+    {
+        [Description(@"channel")]
+        Channel,
+        [Description(@"user")]
+        User
+    }
 }
diff --git a/osu.Game/Overlays/ChatOverlay.cs b/osu.Game/Overlays/ChatOverlay.cs
index fc12789b05..db0d89edc7 100644
--- a/osu.Game/Overlays/ChatOverlay.cs
+++ b/osu.Game/Overlays/ChatOverlay.cs
@@ -136,11 +136,11 @@ namespace osu.Game.Overlays
             fetchReq = new GetMessagesRequest(careChannels, lastMessageId);
             fetchReq.Success += delegate (List<Message> messages)
             {
-                var ids = messages.Select(m => m.ChannelId).Distinct();
-
+                var ids = messages.Where(m => m.TargetType == TargetType.Channel).Select(m => m.TargetId).Distinct();
+            
                 //batch messages per channel.
                 foreach (var id in ids)
-                    careChannels.Find(c => c.Id == id)?.AddNewMessages(messages.Where(m => m.ChannelId == id));
+                    careChannels.Find(c => c.Id == id)?.AddNewMessages(messages.Where(m => m.TargetId == id));
 
                 lastMessageId = messages.LastOrDefault()?.Id ?? lastMessageId;